Houtong Coal-Mine Ecological Park

貓之人間一月天

瑞芳侯硐貓村,八斗子漁港,JAN5,2014,New Taipei City,Taiwan.
猴硐貓村2013年11月被美國CNN選為世界六大賞貓景點,
訪前注意事項務必詳閱維基百科條目猴硐貓村
The riverside town of Houtong,Taiwan,fell into feline celebrity by accident.
Houtong once sat on top of Taiwan's largest coal mine.When the mine closed in the 1990s,the town's population dwindled.Then some new furry residents arrived.
The Houtong Coal Mine Ecological Park (Houtong Road, Ruifang District, New Taipei City; +886 2 24974143) was established to showcase the mining heritage of the town and surrounding hills.But visitors mostly come to photograph the 120 or so playful cats,who laze around the Cat Village and soak up the fuss and inevitable treats.Houtong's proximity to Taipei -- it's an hour away by train -- ensures a steady stream of visitors each weekend.Cats here are used to amateur paparazzi.Their portraits are all over Facebook and Flickr.

Houtong Cat Village (Pingxi Train Line, Taiwan)

Houtong was once a rich small mining town in Ruifang, renowned for a well-preserved culture surrounding its railway, which was built during the Japanese rule of Taiwan. During its prosperous years, the area produced around 220,000 tons of coal per year, the largest coal output of a single area in Taiwan. This attracted many immigrants to the area, which further spurred the town's growth to as many as 900 households with a population of more than 6,000 people. The last facility built in the area was a coal purification factory, built in 1920.

As the coal mining industry began to decline in the 1990s, the area also declined. Young residents started to emigrate to look for other opportunities, and eventually only few hundred residents remained once the mining industry had died out.

However, things started taking a turn for the better from 2008, when a local cat lover organized volunteers to start offering abandoned cats a better life. They posted the cats' pictures online, resulting in an overwhelming response from other cat lovers around the nation. Soon, Houtong became a center for cat lovers as word spread, and the number of cats living there increased – thus reviving a declining village, and transforming it into a tourist destination. Some cats are sterilized, and will have one of their ears trimmed as confirmation – this helps to keep check on the local population of cats, and also helps identify new cats which enter into the village.

Where Cats Call the Shots:

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